Caution: This website includes images and names of deceased people that may cause distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

David Malangi. Photo: J Mitchell, Australian News and Information Bureau, from the collection of the National Archives of Australia, NAA: A1200, L54952.

David MALANGI

Manharrŋu clan, Manyarrŋu language, Dhuwa moiety
1927–1999

Malangi was one of the great artists of his generation. He was among the first Aboriginal artists to be selected for the Sydney Biennale, in 1979 — and for Australian Perspecta, in 1983, the year he also appeared in the XVII Biennale of São Paulo, Brazil. He participated in several major international exhibitions, including: Dreamings in New York in 1988; Aratjara, which toured Europe in 1993–94; and Galerie des Cinq Continents in Paris in 1995.

Malangi was one of the driving forces behind The Aboriginal Memorial (1988) at the National Gallery of Australia. In 1996 he received an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University. The National Gallery mounted a major retrospective exhibition, No Ordinary Place: The Art of David Malangi, in 2004.

Paintings in the exhibition

Click on the images below to see a larger version and more information, including dimensions. Please note these images are not to scale.